Emergency Housing Prototype Erected in Cadman Plaza East Parking Lot

A long-promised prototype for emergency housing is now finished and in place in a parking lot at Cadman Plaza East in downtown Brooklyn. It was unveiled at a press conference Tuesday. Above, the prototype under construction. If the units are actually produced, at a projected cost of $175,000 to $200,000 each, the city would simply truck them in and plug them into utilities after a disaster such as Hurricane Sandy. Where the units would be stored was not mentioned.

The prototype consists of three apartments stacked on top of one another, wrote The New York Times. A one-bedroom unit measured 480 square feet. A three-bedroom was 813 square feet. The Times continued:

The cork floors and spartan bathrooms give the models an institutional feel more reminiscent of a college dormitory than neighboring Dumbo. But with full kitchens and a few bursts of yellow, the apartments in no way resemble the infamous Federal Emergency Management Agency trailers where dangerous levels of formaldehyde poisoned occupants after Hurricane Katrina, or the illegal basement apartments that offered refuge from Hurricane Sandy.

Do you think this is the best approach for the city to shelter victims displaced by the next disaster?

Emergency Housing Unit Is Unveiled in Brooklyn [NY Times]
Photo by AIA New York